When will the coronavirus arrive in the US? (Disease: COVID-19; Virus: SARS-CoV-2)

May 06, 2020, 10:51 PM

stoic-one

Being self-employed, ~50% of my job is and should be from home, or home office, such as it is. But I can't do field work and equipment commissioning without going onsite. I'm sure there are plenty of jobs that can, but that won't work for me or my customers.

Where applicable, it's probably a good thing generally speaking, but how will it affect compensation? I mean, the companies have less overhead from a commercial office standpoint, but do you really think they'll pass that along in the form of higher salaries?

May 06, 2020, 10:55 PM

braillediver

quote:
Amazon Tells Employees They Can Work From Home Until October
As The Seattle Times reports, the updated guidance of no return to work until Oct. 2 is mainly aimed at Amazon's corporate employees

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/350085

May 06, 2020, 11:02 PM

2000Z-71

quote:
Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
No good deed...

Never trust a democrat.

Utah health care workers who volunteered in NY may have to pay state income taxes
BY MCKENZIE STAUFFER
WEDNESDAY, MAY 6TH 2020

(KUTV) — Healthcare workers, including some from Utah, who traveled to New York to help fight the coronavirus pandemic will have to pay state taxes, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday.

"We're not in a position to provide any subsidies right now because we have a $13 billion deficit," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

So there's a lot of good things I'd like to do, and if we get federal funding, we can do, but it would be irresponsible for me to sit here looking at a $13 billion deficit and say I'm gonna spend more money, when I can't even pay the essential services.

PIX 11 reports that even though the state government asked for thousands of people to come to New York form out of state, those workers will have to pay New York state taxes. This also includes taxes on income the workers may make from their home states that they’re paid while in New York.

Any out-of-state resident who came to New York to work on coronavirus relief is subject to the tax after 14 days, PIX 11 reports.

Cuomo said Tuesday that he needs help from Washington in order to cover budge deficits from COVID-19 and subsidize state income tax for the out-of-state essential workers.

"If we don't get more money from Washington, we can't fund schools, right, so at the rate we want to fund them. We are in dire financial need," he said.

Teams from Intermountain Healthcare spent two weeks in New York helping health care workers on the front lines of coronavirus.

Each team consisted of 50 caregivers, including: physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, respiratory therapists and other healthcare professionals.

https://kjzz.com/news/local/ut...y-state-income-taxes

Nothing new and I've seen similar bitches on some of the nursing sites I subscribe to. If you're a traveling nurse, you pay state income tax to the state in which you earned it. That's one reason that contracts in California pay so high, they tax the shit out of it. That and getting a nursing license in California is a major PITA.

May 06, 2020, 11:08 PM

2000Z-71

This is getting ridiculous! TV commercial produced and paid for by the State of Oregon, "Don't accidentally kill someone today."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPFAC1KMJzE

May 06, 2020, 11:12 PM

2000Z-71

A little common sense from Mike Rowe. Watch the bide clip in the attached link. Absolutely love the fact that he calls Governor Cuomo, "Well, stupid."

https://www.foxnews.com/media/...bkwC1U3Uy2OKb8E-pEjU

May 06, 2020, 11:13 PM

9mmepiphany

quote:
Originally posted by RAMIUS:
My company is doing it. Yuuuuge amount of people (Fortune 12 company or something) just in my division are already home on a permanent basis from now on since productivity actually went up! Something like 500+ people who worked on the inside as processors and customer service reps will be at home from now on.

This whole virus thing actually was the push that my division of the company needed to expand the working from home thing because the building was running out of room because they had been hiring so many people because business was booming. So boom. It’s worked out perfectly in a way.

With a bunch of people working from home, companies are soon going to realize there could be a savings by doing away with middle-managers

May 06, 2020, 11:18 PM

Skins2881

quote:
Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:

With a bunch of people working from home, companies are soon going to realize there could be a savings by doing away with middle-managers

My manager is a complete asshole.

My other manager made a surprise appearance during my Zoom interview today. At least he wasn't licking his balls in the background.

May 07, 2020, 05:50 AM

SigM4

quote:
Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:
With a bunch of people working from home, companies are soon going to realize there could be a savings by doing away with middle-managers

A lot of HR folks may suddenly become unnecessary as well, which would be a good thing in my opinion.

May 07, 2020, 06:44 AM

WaterburyBob

I've been working from home since the second week of March.

My employer has already told us to not expect to be back in the office anytime soon, and is starting to plan for reducing employee density (larger cubicles and/or staggered shifts).

Previously, they weren't all that enthused about people working from home.

May 07, 2020, 06:49 AM

DLC762

quote:
Originally posted by SigM4:
A lot of HR folks may suddenly become unnecessary as well, which would be a good thing in my opinion.

Definitely!
IMO, when the name of that department went from "Personnel" to "Human Resources", it became a hinderance instead of an asset to a business.

May 07, 2020, 07:20 AM

Sig2340

quote:
Originally posted by Skins2881:
^^If I was told I had to work for home, I'd be asking my boss how much he was planning on paying me for rent. Giving up valuable living space for company home office, no thanks. I could rent a spare bedroom for $750 a month. I'd want at least $300 a month to lease the space to them.

I've been teleworking on and off since 1993. There were two periods when I didn't; a three year stretch in the Pentagon and a year stretch at DHS (yes, deliberately written to sound like periods I was incarcerated). I've been full time at it since 2007.

The change it made in my life was incredible. I went from spending three to four hours a day on average of unproductive time spent driving to DC.

So charge my employer rent for an office in my home? If I spent four hours a day, five days a week in my car that's 20 hours per week.

With four weeks per month (roughly, and the delta accounts for vacation, sick leave, etc.) that's 80 unproductive hours per month I save.

At $8.00 per hour (roughly minimum wage) that would be $640 per month. At my actual salary, it waaayyyy more.

On top of that, I spend less on my car and motorcycle usage, don't have to pay out the nose to park (at DHS that was $18 per day), have greater flexibility in my schedule. I also save on clothing (I started doing the dress trousers optional).

So let's say teleworking saved me $1,000 per month.

Charge rent? I'd have paid my employer half my commuting costs to telework full-time.

May 07, 2020, 07:22 AM

AirmanJeff

quote:
Originally posted by Skins2881:
^^If I was told I had to work for home, I'd be asking my boss how much he was planning on paying me for rent. Giving up valuable living space for company home office, no thanks. I could rent a spare bedroom for $750 a month. I'd want at least $300 a month to lease the space to them.

That's crazy. You only need a desk, and with the money I am saving in gas/tolls/maintenance, I am making out.

May 07, 2020, 07:25 AM

PowerSurge

quote:
Originally posted by AirmanJeff:
quote:
Originally posted by Skins2881:
^^If I was told I had to work for home, I'd be asking my boss how much he was planning on paying me for rent. Giving up valuable living space for company home office, no thanks. I could rent a spare bedroom for $750 a month. I'd want at least $300 a month to lease the space to them.

That's crazy. You only need a desk, and with the money I am saving in gas/tolls/maintenance, I am making out.

Yep. One of my friends told me he is saving about 400 bucks a month working from home just in gas and less car maintenance. Not to mention less stress with not having to deal with Atlanta traffic. Can’t put a price on that.

May 07, 2020, 07:43 AM

PASig

I can tell that my employer is already starting to fall in love with the idea of having a much much larger percentage of people telecommute on a permanent basis.

It was always very grudgingly granted in the past, almost like they didn’t trust us.

If I were a facilities or maintenance person there I’ll be getting nervous as they won’t need near as many as before. Ironically JUST before this pandemic began we had started on a project to open an overflow building to seat something like 800 to 1000 people because our main building was bursting at the seams and we were running out of desk space!

I half expect to hear any day now that’s been canceled.

May 07, 2020, 07:57 AM

Lt CHEG

quote:
Originally posted by Krazeehorse:
You are 100% correct A1. We MUST return manufacturing to the United States and we must be able to produce products at a relatively competitive price.

While I agree that we need to get more competitive, I will also add this. It costs a lot of money to transport goods from half a world away to the United States. Reduced transportation costs can be utilized to help offset greater labor costs in the United States. Secondly people are going to have to understand that things are just going to cost more. If our country doesn’t believe in manufacturing without pollution controls (I know I certainly don’t)then we should not be allowed to purchase from other countries that manufacture with no pollution controls. If 3rd world countries had to manufacture with some semblance of respect for the environment then even with the slave wages those countries pay their employees things would not be appreciably more expensive to manufacture in the United States. Factor in transportation costs from third world countries and US made goods would likely be cheaper.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

May 07, 2020, 08:32 AM

dynorat

Is there a list or pinned page where the forum has found and vetted reliable data to refute the hype and hysteria being spread by the media? I'm looking for a few reliable sites to confirm or refute 'news' such as the so called public interest story from my state below.

https://www.mlive.com/public-i...n-all-of-canada.html

Edit to add news article title: Public Interest: Michigan hits 4,250 coronavirus deaths, more than all of Canada

I like the chart on the site below, number of deaths in Canada closely match the story, and I can click on headers and see how countries rank by number of tests, and cases per million of population to quickly see that the news article is sorely lacking information to put the story in perspective.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/coronavirus/#4333

Wish I could find more data to question the news story's claim on the daily number of deaths, (confirmed, suspected, etc.) since the daily number reported by the state exceeds the number on the chart for the whole US. If anyone can find issues with the RCP site, or knows where on the site we have a repository of good sources I'd appreciate a link.

Thanks, Mark.

May 07, 2020, 08:41 AM

Balzé Halzé

This website I found has some good data.

https://wmbriggs.com/post/30624/

May 07, 2020, 08:53 AM

dynorat

Thank you, good site, bookmarked.

I'm also interested in examples like this.

https://www.projectveritas.com...h-testing-site-line/

A site with infections by zip code would be nice too. I've tried to find one, but any I find are only for NY, or seem questionable.

May 07, 2020, 09:14 AM

PASig

Well the Supreme Court declined to get involved in the legal challenge to Pennsylvania’s dictatorial dickhead Governor Tom Wolf, who I think is second only to Gretchen Whitmer in terms of brutality with these EO’s and lockdown orders.

I now fully expect to be under house arrest until next year at the very least. This asshole is determined to destroy Pennsylvania in order to ensure Trump does not win the state, which is crucial, it put him over the top in 2016.

The sense of despair about being able to do anything is growing.